Rachel Ohly had been dreaming of the day she would get married since she was a little girl. The Florida woman's gown was picked out, the guest list was set and everything was ready for the big day.
But her dream turned into a nightmare when the wedding was suddenly called off by the owner of her venue with only days to go before the big day.
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Ohly said she received a shocking email from Noah's Event Venue outside Orlando informing them that the couple's wedding would not be taking place.
"It was my worst nightmare," Ohly told Inside Edition.
She was far from the only unhappy customer. Noah's also reportedly closed their locations in 20 states across the country, leaving about 3,000 wedding couples scrambling for alternative venues ahead of their nuptials.
The closures came nearly a year after the Utah-based company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy after 16 years in business. The founder, William Bowser, said the company grew too fast and focused too heavily on new locations instead of "making sure the fledgling locations had all the proper support," according to court filings obtained by Inside Edition.
But events were still going on at some venues until last week, when the judge managing their case directed the company to "cease operations immediately," according to a statement posted to the company's website.
“This company is continuing to lose money. It can only stay afloat by taking money for future events. There’s very little prospect that that can be performed,” said Judge Joel T. Marker during a Feb. 6 hearing. “This company is hurting people and I’m not going to allow that to continue.”
With the wedding just days away, Rachel and her husband frantically searched the internet for a new venue. They were one of the lucky ones, and found one at the last minute. The wedding went on as planned.
Still, Ohly said she was out about $8,000 for the wedding at the original venue.
In a statement, Noah's said that people who had their events cancelled would be "eligible to file for an administrative claim."
An attorney for Noah's told Inside Edition that the customers are entitled to a refund. However, there's just not much in terms of funds to repay them.
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